Flower and Tree

Chapter 1

She's flying, soaring over the treetops. The sky darkens, thunder rolls, lightning flashes, rain pounds on her back. She's falling, falling...

"Ella!"

Rosella sat up. "What is it?" she asks.

"It's time to get up, it's moving day!" Her mother, Hannah, said.

She sighed. "Yes, mother."

Her mother turned to leave, then stopped. "Oh, and Ella, do comb your hair."

"Yes mother." replied Rosella as the woman left to wake younger brother and sister, John and Mary.

Rosella sighed again. She often felt like a raven among cardinals, because her mother, father, sister, and younger brother all had red hair and brown eyes, while she and her twin brother, Rowan, had black hair and blue eyes.

Rosella pointed her finger at the wall. "Opinaum."

She smirked when the wall melted away to reveal an elegant wooden door. Rosella, and Rowan, both had magical powers, and not only did they become stronger every day; they were the only ones that knew about them. She pulled open the door, revealing a cavernous room, its walls lined with shelves full of thick books and strange knick-knacks. The only breaks between the shelves were silver arches hung with rich curtains. These led to other rooms within Rosella's 'hideout'.

Rosella walked over to one of the bookcases and fondly stroked the ebony-and-pearl side. Then she ran her finger along the binds of the thick books on one shelf, looking for a certain one.

"Ah, here it is, Dream Interpretation, by Annaea Sorco."

She took it out, sat down in a chair, and opened it to the table of contents. Soon she found the correct page, and read what her dream supposedly meant, according to the book.

Rosella put the book away and went to one of the arches, pulling aside its sea-green curtain to reveal a type of dressing room. When she was done there, she had on a deep blue button-up shirt and black trousers with and tall black leather boots. Her ears were adorned with small golden earrings. Then she went into another room branching off from that, and from a fountain poured water into a large shell with a silver pitcher. Rosella took a silver-and-pearl brush and brushed her straight black hair until it felt like silk, then went over to a cabinet and got out a deep blue silk ribbon.

She sat in front of the silver-framed mirror and braided her long hair, and when she was done she tied it off with the ribbon. Afterwards, Rosella went back to the main door.

"Opinaum."

The door opened again, and Rosella went out. She met her sister Mary in the hall.

"Hello, Mary."

"Hello, Ella." Rosella held back a slight scowl. She did not like that nickname very much.

Then Mary saw Rosella's braid. "Can you do my hair like that to match my dress? Please?"

Rosella smiled at the younger girl. "Of course."

"Thanks Ella!"

Rosella took Mary's long straight red hair in her delicate, long-fingered hands, and braided it tightly, before tying it off with an ivy-green ribbon that Mary had with her, and matched her short play-dress. Then Rosella and Mary went downstairs for breakfast. They saw John and Rowan on the stairs, and Rosella grinned when she saw Rowan's hair. The hair of her twin was longer than most males', reaching just barely two inches past his shoulders. The different thing today was that it was pulled back into a ponytail with a deep green ribbon, as opposed to the braid and leather tie he usually used.